Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves who has been the Minister for Finance for the past 16 years has now relinquished the post to his 45 year old son Camillo Gonsalves, who previously held the portfolios of Economic Planning and Sustainable Development. This cabinet reshuffle which is the first since the Unity Labour Party regained office could serve as an indication of where the Prime Minister, who is already 71 years old, wants the party to go regards a new leader, and a new Prime Minister for the country.

The economic situation of the country does not seem to be getting better and so two retired Permanent Secretaries are calling on the Freundel Stuart Administration to bite the bullet and enter into a funding arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, they are cautioning that such should be on conditions and terms set by the country. A team from the IMF is currently on island. The country was last put into the hands of the IMF in the early 1990s.

The Attorney General will have to face the courts more often and the Government will have to settle more lawsuits as more individuals claim that their constitutional rights are being breached. Among them are persons who have been arrested and charged for murder and attempted murder, and held on remand for three years before hearing their cases, which are thereafter dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

Services at the Soufriere Hospital have been suspended temporarily after the facility was struck by a fire in the wee hours of Thursday 9th November 2017. The Ministry of Health has stated that effective immediately a 24 hour service will be provided at the nearby wellness centre in Etangs while they will meet with other relevant agencies to determine the cause of the fire and the return of the staff to the hospital.

When the OECS Health Ministers met at the 4th Council Meeting, financial savings in the health sectors of their member states was one of the main topics of discussion. The OECS Commission is working towards reducing the cost of medicines via its Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (PPS), which made an aggregate cost saving of $5 million for its members in 2016/2017. The OECS/PPS annual report was also tabled during the meeting.

Saint Kitts-Nevis continues its efforts to deal with the impacts of climate change, as the Small Grants Programme (SGP) supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) celebrated the successful completion of its sustainable projects and also launched the operational phase six grant funding which is for the period 2016 – 2019. Persons can start applying to the fund as of 1st December 2017.

At the recent OECS Health Ministers Council held in Martinique for the first time, Alfred Marie-Jean, President of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique, announced that patients from the OECS member countries will now have access to a cyclotron which is used in the treatment of cancer with radiation and also facilitate positron emission tomography imaging.

During the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Assembly held in Paris on 8th November, the membership consisting of 131 countries, demonstrated confidence in Grenada by voting to elect the country to the Executive Board of the Organisation. Grenada has joined twenty-six (26) other countries to serve on the said board.